


AKA Not My Specialty

by Foxgrrl42



Series: Misty & Danny Forever [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Iron Fist (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Actually Helpful Trish, F/M, Friendship, Grumpy Jessica, Implied Unrequited Feelings, Nervous Danny, Past Relationship(s), Relationship Advice, Set Post-Defenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 07:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11144118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxgrrl42/pseuds/Foxgrrl42
Summary: Jess groaned. “This Misty chick, can’t you ask Luke about her? I think I remember him saying something about them fucking one time.”Danny gave a bewildered expression, “What?! They had sex?! He just told me that they just had coffee.”“Danny, when Luke says he had coffee with a woman, he means he fucked her.”“Oh. OHHHHH. My life makes way more sense all of a sudden.”***In which Danny has an impending date with Misty and seeks out relationship advice from quite possibly the least qualified person on the subject.(Used to be titled "First Date". See explanation in notes.)





	AKA Not My Specialty

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to my first Misty/Danny fic Coffee. You may want to go back and read that first.  
> This is all set post-Defenders, but Defenders hasn't come out yet, so it's sort of just what I expect to be the aftermath of the series.
> 
> EDIT: Okay so, this fic used to be the first chapter in what was supposed to be a multi-chapter fic called "First Date", but then this chapter became too long and went off on several tangents not closely related to the original plot of First Date, so I decided that it worked better as a stand alone fic that was a part of the Misty and Danny Forever series. For those of you who were wanting to read the rest of First Date, don't worry. I'm still writing it and this little change has in no way affected that.

Jessica frowned at her computer screen. Despite her email being open, she had no intention of intention of checking her inbox. This pointless waste of laptop battery was due to the man currently sprawled on her couch like a freudian nutcase. To the criminals of New York he was known as the Iron Fist, to the rest of the world he was Danny Rand, and to Jessica? He was nothing more than a pain in the ass.

Unfortunately for Jessica, after saving the world together, Danny seemed to come to the conclusion that they and the other Defenders were friends. Seriously, he did ridiculous things like set up a group chat, send excessive amounts of emojis in said group chat, give random gifts, call them by nicknames, etc. Although Jessica thoroughly enjoyed the new leather jacket he sent her, Danny wouldn’t leave her the fuck alone. He’d just show up at her place without any announcement and with weird buddhist oranges in tow. Did he expect her to eat them? Who the fuck could possibly eat that many oranges?

That morning he burst into her apartment nervously babbling about some lunch date he had with a cop. Why should she care? Couldn’t she just enjoy her Saturday getting wasted on her couch in peace? This kid was getting on her nerves.

Jess groaned. “This Misty chick, can’t you ask Luke about her? I think I remember him saying something about them fucking one time.”

Danny gave a bewildered expression, “What?! They had sex?! He just told me that they just had coffee.”

“Danny, when Luke says he had coffee with a woman, he means he fucked her.”

“Oh. OHHHHH. My life makes way more sense all of a sudden.”

“Yeah, anyway. My point is Luke probably knows way more about Misty than me, so you can’t go to him instead? Please? For the love of god, will you leave me alone?”

“I guess would,” Danny sighed, “but he and Claire went out of town for the weekend. After all the crazy stuff that went down the last few weeks, I can hardly blame them for wanting a little vacation. I wouldn’t want to bother him.”

Jessica couldn’t blame them either.

After finding out Claire was dating her ex, Jessica’s first instinct was to hate her. Not that she still had feelings for Luke or anything (“NO, I DO NOT. SHUT UP, TRISH”), but that didn’t mean she wasn’t the least bit jealous that Claire was successful where she had failed.

At first anyway.

Then she quickly came to the realization that hating Claire Temple simply wasn’t possible. The woman was just too damn kind and likeable. How could anyone _not_ love her? Besides it wasn’t like it was her fault Jessica screwed up so badly with Luke. Claire made him happier than she ever could anyway and that’s what really mattered.  

If the two of them wanted to go on a peaceful little vacation. Great. They deserved it. While they were good people who deserved to be with good people, Jessica wasn’t, so she was fine with Claire and Luke. Totally completely fine. As they had their fun, she’d stay where she was and help idiot rich boys with stupid non-problems. It was what _she_ deserved.

“I’m just so nervous,” Danny told her, “I’ve never been on a first date before.”

Ah, yes. _Non-problems._

“What about that katana chick?” Jessica leaned back in her seat and gave the ceiling an irritated glare. “You two seem close. Can’t you ask her for dating advice?”

“What? Colleen?? No. That would be weird considering we used to be together.”

“So, you _were_ shagging her! That’s what I thought, but when I asked Jeri she said you weren’t. Why would she say that?”

“We’d already broken up by the time you met me. Also shagging?”

“It means fucking, Danny. Do I need to get you a thesaurus exclusively for words that mean sex? Cause that already exists. It’s called Urban Dictionary. Use it.”

“No, I know what it means, but c’mon. Shagging? Who says that?”

“I don’t know. People! People say shagging.”

“No, they don’t.”

“You and Colleen shagged. You shagged her. Accept it.”

“I wasn’t just ‘shagging’ her” Danny said, his face blushing red. “Can you _please_ stop calling it that?”

She ignored his pleas. “So it was more than just shagging then. A committed relationship.” Jessica gave up the eye contact avoidance tactic and directed her full attention towards Danny. “Wait, that means you _have_ been on a first date. You can’t be in a committed relationship and not go on at least one date.”

“But we never really went on a date _date_ , you know?” Danny fiddled with his crooked tie as he spoke. “We’d hang out--we _still_ hang out-- but when we first got together there was so much going on that we didn’t have time for all that. After everything cooled down it seemed a little ridiculous to get all dressed up, go to a restaurant, and get to know one another when we’d already been together that long, so I guess we skipped that part. The closest we got was take-out at her dojo and Claire was there.”

Jessica closed her laptop, “What do you expect me to do about it? If you haven’t noticed I’m not exactly a relationship specialist. In fact the only thing I _am_ an specialist at is fucking them up.”

“I don’t know, you’re way better at reading people than I am. You’ve met her before, right?”

“Yeah. _One time._ And she arrested me, it’s not like we’re sorority sisters.”

Danny gave her a pleading look. With those big blue eyes he couldn’t have looked more pitiful if he was a puppy trapped in a sweater.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Jessica then promised herself that next time she saw a distressed billionaire at her door she was going to pretend that she wasn’t home.

“Okay, _fine,”_ she said.

At that Danny shot up into a proper sitting position and gave her a smile that was all sunshine and fucking rainbows. Even as a nervous wreck the guy exuded positive energy. Jessica rolled her eyes, but secretly she was the tiniest bit pleased. While Danny’s enthusiasm, for the most part, was annoying, it was also infectious and she wasn’t entirely immune. He wasn’t a bad kid.

Dammit, she was growing soft.  

She smirked and shook her head, “I’ll tell what I put together from my _brief_ encounter with her, but it’s probably nothing you couldn’t have figured out on your own. I’m not fucking psychic.”

“Got it” Danny beamed.

“Judging by how quick she pulled her gun on me she’s got balls,” she paused, “ _and_ she’s smart. You don’t make it as an NYPD detective by accident.”

As Danny listened he sat readily at the edge of his seat as if he were an eager child at a birthday party watching the cake being cut. In this particular instant he looked harmless, but Jessica knew under the all that supposed innocence and curly blonde charm was a carefully crafted weapon. However she was only aware of this because she’d witnessed the Iron Fist in all his deadly glory first hand. If this hadn’t been the case Jessica would never have guessed Danny could be dangerous.

Murdock had a tougher time hiding his DareDevil persona than Danny did his skill. Despite how hard Jessica saw Matt try it still wasn’t difficult to spot the devil lurking within the mild mannered lawyer. If you knew what you were looking for anyway; the infrequent sharp tongued remarks, the constant silent observing, the way he tilted his head just the slightest bit down when he smiled. It was all there. Murdock had a certain air about him.

Danny on the other hand was harder to pinpoint and at first this drove Jess insane until she finally realized the fundamental truth of Danny Rand.

He was entirely genuine.

There was no discernable way to tell where the cheery rich golden boy ended and where the mystical kung fu shit began. Incessantly worrying about whether girls liked him while simultaneously being the guy who did battle with ancient undying dragons was just part of the complex riddle of Danny Rand. There was no alter ego, no mask. Just simply Danny being himself.

Speaking of worrying about girls.

“Is that it?” Danny asked with the slight tilt of his head. He could tell the P.I. had more up her sleeve.

Jessica sighed, “That’s all I can give you without inferencing and that’s just estimated guess work. Not always accurate.”

“Would you mind telling me anyway?”

“Well,” Jessica propped her elbow on the arm of her chair. Then in turn she rested her chin on the palm of her hand and deliberately thought for a moment, “from what I hear the police academy is a kind of a boys club,” she said, “so, like most stereotypically male jobs, it must’ve been bit tougher to get through it as a woman. Not because she’s less capable. I can tell she’s a good cop, although she’s probably used to being underestimated. Having to prove herself again and again, but she’s determined. I bet she really believes in the work.”

As Danny watched her intently Jessica pictured Misty in her mind. She remembered how the woman gripped her gun and held her gaze with that steady intensity. The way she took command and calmly solicited orders despite unorthodox situation she found herself in. A more defined idea of the kind of person Misty was began to form.  

“She likes to stay in control,” Jessica added. “Not sure what happens when she loses it, but it’s probably not pretty.”

“Huh,” Danny considered this for a second, “What does that mean for me?”  

“How the fuck should I know?” Jessica shrugged. “Like I said, this isn’t my specialty.”

A familiar voice chimed in from the other side of the room “Good thing I’m here.”

Danny and Jessica whipped their heads around to see the owner of said voice. Trish Walker sat on Jessica’s desk with her legs crossed and a smug look spread across her face as if she’d been there all along.

“Jesus, Trish!” Jessica exclaimed. “You scared the shit out of me. How did you even get in?”

As she said this Trish slid off the desk and tucked her hair behind her ear. With her hair out of the way Jessica noticed the necklace around Trish’s neck. It was a belated birthday present from Jessica, not anything too expensive. The necklace itself consisted of five quarter sized golden hoops (not _real_ gold, mind you) looped together with a long skinny gold chain attached to each end hoop to give it length.

At the time Jessica bought it she was looking for something to at least partially make up for all the shit she put Trish through in the aftermath of Kilgrave. She wanted to prove that she could be a good friend again and that yes, she could do normal friend things like buy birthday gifts and bitch about annoying colleagues together. She had meandered around New York all that afternoon irritated and slightly buzzed with nothing to show for it. Just as she was about to give up and settle with a department store gift card she saw the necklace in a thrift shop window. It was tasteful, beautiful and delicate yet enduring. AKA everything Trish was that Jessica wasn’t.

While she knew Trish would appreciate the gift, she didn’t expect her to actually _wear_ it. When it came to fashion Trish could be very picky and wearing something that someone _else_ picked out _for_ her was a compliment of the highest caliber.

“The door was unlocked” Trish said. “I thought you left it like that on purpose since you knew I was coming.”

Jessica replied with nothing more than a blank stare.

Trish narrowed her eyes, “You _did_ know I was coming, right?”

“Shit, that’s right!” Jessica facepalmed, “We were gonna have brunch today. I totally forgot.”

So much for normal friend things. Maybe some aspects of friendship, like remembering brunch dates would never quite stick in her constant day drinking brain.  

“So you _didn’t_ leave the door open?” Trish raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me it’s broken again.”

“Heh, no, don’t worry. I haven’t had any dissatisfied clients in a while. Malcolm must’ve forgotten to lock it. Remind me to fire him next time I see him.”

Trish laughed, “With all the poor guy has to put up with I’d give him a raise.”

“Uh, hi,” Danny gave Trish a little wave as if say ‘Yes, hello, I’m here too.’

Oh, that’s right. Mr. Curly Fry Hair was still unlawfully occupying Jessica’s couch. If she was being perfectly honest she would say she forgot he was even there. She wished she could go back to that forgetfulness and continue living in denial that she had a weird hippie monk following her around everywhere like a little duckling.

Trish, rushed over to shake Danny’s hand, “Sorry about that.”

Danny stood up and accepted Trish’s gesture, “No worries. It’s really nice to meet you again.”

“Same here,” Trish smiled. “Once again, Mr. Rand, I’d like to say the humanitarian touch you’re bringing to your company is truly inspiring. Everyone is still talking about what you did with the med prices.”

“I’m happy you think that,” Danny chuckled bashfully. “Not everybody felt the same at the time.”

Jessica eyed the exchange, “You know Trish?” she asked then got out of her chair and joined them on the other side of the room.

“She interviewed me on her show,” Danny responded. “She’s actually the one who directed me to you when I was bringing the Defenders together.”

A brief look of panic crossed Jessica’s face at Danny using the D-word without his mask. Wasn’t _he_ the one with the secret identity? She wasn’t sure of all the consequences of letting the world know that Danny Rand and the Iron Fist were one and the same, but it probably wasn’t good. After her and Kilgrave’s public little showdown at the docks, the press wouldn’t leave Jessica alone for the longest time and _she_ wasn’t a famous shareholder of monster corporation.

“It’s okay, Jess,” Trish put her hands up reassuringly. “I know all about the Iron Fist. After the interview there was a little incident.”

“The Hand may or may not have cornered us outside the studio,” Danny added.

“Wait a second,” Jessica said to Trish. “You got attacked by _The Hand_? Holy shit, are you okay?”

Her eyes darted up and down Trish looking for any sign of injury. Suddenly it occurred to her that Danny had contacted her about joining his little group nearly a month ago. If _Trish_ was the one who told Danny about Jessica’s abilities that meant Trish had been deliberately hiding this from Jessica for weeks. _Weeks._

This was unprecedented.

Sure, she had shielded things from Trish in the past. However that was Jessica being an overprotective idiot and she liked to think that she’d moved past that, but Trish? Trish was supposed to be the honest one, the _better_ one. Why was she acting like a misguided Jessica all of a sudden?

Jessica took a step towards Trish “Why the _fuck_ didn’t you tell me?”, she said. She was furious and maybe a little hurt, but she had a right to be. Her best friend of over a decade was keeping things from her and she wanted to know why.

Trish gestured at Jessica and her incredulous state “Because of _this_. I knew you would freak out. I’m not a scared teenager anymore, Jess. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yeah, but this is The _Hand_ , we’re talking about here. Can you hear the capital H?” Jessica said. “These people kidnapped children so they could harvest their blood. No seriously. Don’t look at me like that. They’re the motherfucking _Hand_ . It’s what they do. Or _did_ anyway. Point is, you shouldn’t fuck with them.”

“See?” Trish responded. Like she always did when they were arguing Trish ran her fingers through her hair an unnecessary number of times. “You _always_ do this. You’re making the situation seem like a bigger deal than it is. I’m fine, I really am. I wasn’t hurt, nobody was. Why can’t you trust me to take care of myself?”

“I trust you fine! Just not with psycho blood suckers!”

“It’s okay, Jessica,” Danny placed a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “I was there and she’s right. Trish can handle herself fine. Even without me there she would’ve given The Hand a run for their money. You would've been proud. With a teeny bit more training we may have a fifth Defender on our hands.”

Jessica shrugged Danny’s hand away and turned herself towards him with a dangerous look in her eye. Playing up the chivalry with Trish and soft spoken secretaries was one thing, but she wasn’t having it. She didn’t need nor want Danny’s reassurances.

“First of all,” Jessica said pointing an accusing finger at him, “like I told you this morning, that Defenders gig was a one time deal. Don’t think that every other weekend I’m gonna meet up with you and _the gang_ for superhero book club _”_ she embellished ‘the gang’ with finger quotation marks.

Danny looked physically wounded from her words, but that didn’t mean Jess had time to feel sorry for him, much less pull a team together for keeps. Neither she nor Murdock liked the idea and Luke was on the fence, but Danny had been all for it since the beginning. Obviously the dude read too many Justice League comics when he was a kid.

“And don’t think I underestimate you, Trish,” Jess spun around so she was facing her friend.“I know you can kick ass with your karate training.”

“Krav Maga,” Trish corrected.

“Whatever. Point is I know that you’re not some ditzy damsel in distress. Damsels don’t carry tasers and brass knuckles in their purses. You’re badass and fucking brutal and I love you for it, but can you really blame me just for worrying?” Her voice softened. “Look, I’m sorry I got all in your face about it. Just next time your life is seriously threatened by a gang of roving ninjas remember to call up your best friend afterwards, alright?”

While Jessica could still tell Trish was hesitant a warm smile pulled at her lips, “Yeah, okay. I suppose that was inconsiderate of me.”

“No shit,” she crossed her arms.

“Don’t push it,” Trish warned, but any tension in the room before was diffused and it was more of a playful warning. “But you’re right. We’re family and family should communicate. From now on if I get attacked by muggers, ninjas, flying monkeys or whatever fresh hell New York cooks up, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”

“Good.”

Then Trish pulled her in for a hug. When it came to hugs normally Jessica was completely averse towards them and attempted to avoid them at all costs, but Trish was the obvious exception. She wrapped her arms around her friend and did something similar to a smile.

“But you have to promise not to worry too much,” Trish replied.

“That I can’t guarantee,” Jess said a warm feeling bubbling up inside her, “but I guess I’ll try.”

Trish then pulled away and faced Danny her hands on her hips, “I believe you said something about dating advice?”

“Yes,” Danny responded, “Yes, _please._ We’re having lunch today and I have no idea what I’m doing.” His voice had a bit of a manic tone to it, like the one of a college student frantically cram studying for finals.

“Hmm, yikes,” Trish studied Danny up and down, “I hope that’s not what you’re going to wear.”

Danny looked down at his three piece suit, “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”

“Objectively nothing, but it’s waaaay too fancy for lunch. If you show up in that I promise you that your date will be in something casual and you’ll make her feel underdressed.”

“Huh,” Danny continued looked down at his suit again as if he’d just seen it for the very first time. “I didn’t even think of that, but I don’t have much else. All the other clothes I have are suits and what my lawyer calls ‘homeless hipster’ wear.”

Trish made a disgusted noise at the words ‘homeless hipster wear’ and then critically examined Danny’s suit for another moment. Jessica could hear the gears turning in her head. Trish was in full date advice mode, her least favorite of Trish’s modes, “Okay okay, if you’re going out around lunch that still gives us some time to buy you some new lunch casual clothes, but we’ll have to leave now.”

“What about brunch?” Jessica inquired.

“We can do both. C’mon let’s go,” Trish was already walking out the door. “Danny, you can tell me all about this girl of yours on the way.”

Jessica grimaced as she reluctantly followed with Danny close behind, but in truth she wasn’t all that annoyed. As she watched Trish walk down the hall and blab on about the pros and cons of wearing jeans to a first date, she realized that maybe this wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Sure, she wasn’t happy about having to watch Pretty Boy McRich Pants try on a ton of clothes, like she was in some sort of romantic comedy montage, but spending the first part of the day with her best friend and her crime fighting acquaintance who she only kind of hated just might be slightly better than her original plans of drinking, sleeping and most definitely _not_ thinking about Luke. She felt better than she did earlier that morning. Less pissed off. Content even.

That was until she noticed Danny grinning at her like an eleven year old who just learned an embarrassing secret.

She glared at him, “What you looking at, rich boy?”

That just made his grin grow wider, “You care a lot about your friends, Jessica Jones.”

“Oh, shut up,”  she retorted, but she was already smiling with him.


End file.
